The one with the feather in his cap
by FlightOfTheDemon
Summary: An oddball vulpix makes friends with an umbreon after being rescued, three years later its time for them to be adopted out to new trainers and the vulpix is reluctant to let go, however that becomes the least of his problems. slash.DISCONTINUED.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

Disclaimer- I don't own pokemon

Three weeks had passed since the March frost had given into April's warm grasp, the flowers had begin to bloom and the woodland pokemon had returned to a forest filled with the happiness and energy of spring. Alek stretched rippling the fur on his back and tail, he held the out stretched pose for a moment before returning to a sitting state to clean his face and paws. It had been a long winter and he was all to eager to bound out onto the dew covered meadows and warm his fur by the riverbank. What he was mostly looking forward to was being away from the other Eevees, Alek wasn't like the other Eevees and because of that he was shunned and excluded from the tightly knit skulk they formed . To start off with he wasn't really an eevee at all, from what he could remember from the before time he was a vulpix and he had been separated from his ninetails mother. Even though he was a vulpix he wasn't like other vulpixes either. Instead of having the signature reddish-brown fur and deep chocolate brown eyes his fur was mostly sandy colored and his eyes were of the deepest violet. A shaggy tuft of sandy fur replaced the orangey buns that would normally be at the top of his head and his paws were white toed. Since he had arrived at the pokeshelter 3 years ago he had dreamed of leaving it with a trainer of his very own, this spring would be the year that he'd be old enough to leave the shelter but now he dreaded it.

Alek licked his paw and swiped it across his muzzle and nose and then stood, it was an inevitability. Today he'd probably be adopted and he'd be separated from his best friend Cael, Cael was an unusual pokemon; he was an umbreon from birth due to the fact that his umbreon mother had been experimented on before she was rescued. He had been a kit when Alek was brought into the pokeshelter but unlike the other eevees and their evolutions he had instantly liked the vulpix despite his differences. It was because of this umbreon that Alek lived a happy life at the shelter and he didn't know what he would do if he was separated from the other pokemon for more than 24 hours. The fox-like pokemon shook the thought from his head as he bounded across the room and squeezed through the eevee sized doggy door. Most of the pokemon that were up for adoption were already out on the meadow and Alek scampered off to join them.

Once out on the meadow Alek drew in a deep breath, the scent of rain and grass clippings was much more inviting then the stuffiness of the shelter. It didn't take long to find Cael and Alek sauntered down toward the river taking time to stop and sniff the wild flowers. At the edge of the meadow there was a river where he found Cael, the Umbreon splashed in the shallow water near the bank ridding his fur of the stench of the three months of being confined to the shelter. The umbreon giddily ran up and down the river stirring up little tidal waves and washing away the debris that had been lodged in his fur, through his escapade he hadn't noticed Alek watching his foolish antics. Alek inwardly giggled, this was what he loved most about Cael, when he was around the younger eevees he was mature and set a good example for the kits but when he was alone he was nothing more than a kit himself. Cael stopped and looked toward the bank, his eyes lit up and a smile moved onto his face as he set sight on the vulpix.

"Thanks for the show" Alek said bringing a paw to his mouth and quietly giggling.

"Im glad you liked it" Cael replied stretching a paw out and gesturing for Alek to join him in the water.

Alek dipped a paw into the water shivering at its cool temperature, after a few moments he settled all four paws into the frigid river. Cael grinned and walked up to the shivering vulpix affectionately slapping the pokemon on his behind and yelling tag. Startled Alek jumped slightly and slipped on the smooth stones in the shallow river causing him to cascade into the water. The vulpix carefully stood to prevent him from falling again and ran after the umbreon. Using quick attack Alek caught up to Cael in a matter of seconds and tackled him. The force of the attack caused the two to tumble onto the river's bank. Cael looked down into the Vulpix's violet eyes as he held him pinned to the ground, as the strongest of the Umbreons at the shelter he had his pick at any female he wanted but he would surely give his life to look into the eyes of this vulpix and it scared him.

"We should, uh, go now and stuff" Cael receded allowing Alek to roll over onto his side and stand.

The sun was high in the sky at this point ad the intense sunshine was welcomed to dry their dripping fur, Alek looked toward Cael taking in the subtle differences that made him unique. The tiny flicker of silver in his ruby eyes, the reddish tint of his markings, as well as the slightly heart shaped oval on his right thigh. Other than his slight deformities (and he used this term VERY loosely) the umbreon was truly a gorgeous creature and someone that Alek could say he truly...loved. Alek blushed as he caught himself staring but it was hard to look away, he shook his head and started back toward the shelter. Today was gonna be a long day.

---------------------------------------------------------

"What kind of pokemon are you looking for"?

"I don't care what kind of pokemon it is, as long as its better than yours"

"That's an impossibility considering I'm getting an umbreon and you can't get much better then that"

"Pfft, if that's what you wanna think go right ahead but I know my pokemon will kick your pokemon's ass"

"Yeah right, in your dreams"

Madellyn and Meighson walked toward the shelter, at 16 they were late starters to the world of pokemon training but their mother had been so insistent on them getting a good education they had given in multiple times and stayed home. Now six years later then most rookie trainers they were getting their first pokemon. Meighson looked at his twin, since birth the two had been inseparable even going as far as to push their beds together so they could sleep with one another. It would be weird to be away from his sister but she wanted to go one way, he and another.

Three minutes passed in silence as the twins continued down the path to the pokeshelter, the path gave way to a river signaling they were close to their destination. A little way down the river there was a bridge where they crossed taking a moment to look down into the water at the Magikarp and Goldeen. From the other side of the river Madellyn could see the shelter, it sat high upon the meadow far from the dangers of the outside world. She swallowed hard and forced herself to move on, she was afraid to be on her own but as the older sibling she'd never let her brother see her fear. The two trudged up the meadow toward the front of the shelter, around them rescued pokemon both young and old relaxed and played on the dampened grass. Once at the door Meighson reached for the knob and hesitated, taking a deep breath he turned the knob and walked into the building with his sister close behind.

---------------------------------------------

Alek scratched at the bow around his neck, upon returning to the shelter early one of the staff members had bathed him and tied the monstrosity around his neck then cooed about how cute he was. Afterward they had put him in the kennel with the Eevees and put Cael in a separate kennel filled with only Umbreon. He sat and watched as the humans came by and left with an Eevee or some other kind of pokemon, it hurt him to see so many that didn't want him but in the back of his mind he felt relieved. Scratching at the bow again he succeeded in loosening it a bit, again he scratched but instead he caught his foot in the loop and tightened it around his neck restricting his airflow. Panicking he scratched with his free hind leg trying to free himself from the choking grasp of the ribbon only to further tighten and entangle himself in it. Alek mewed loudly trying to get someone's attention while he thrashed about further complicating his predicament. His mewing stopped and his eyes widened as he watched the next human go by, it was a female. She had auburn hair that fell down around her waist and emerald eyes, but what she held in her hand was what shocked him. The female held a pokeball and on the red half engraved in cold lettering were the letters C-A-E-L, tears collected in the Vulpix's eyes and spilled over making a little pool on the floor.

After looking through the kennels and not seeing anything that truly appealed to him Meighson had settled on a Rattata seeing as they were easy to train. He turned heading in the rattata pen to choose one of the rat pokemon when he was stopped by the loud pained call of a vulpix. To the left of him was an eevee pen, most of the eevees had been adopted out but the remaining all congregated to the front of the pen when Meighson leaned his hand on the side, all except one. There was one way back in the corner wrapped up in a yellow bow, Meighson stepped into the pen and picked up the struggling pokemon freeing it from the ribbon. The pokemon mewed but instead of making the characteristic eevee sound it replied with a high pitched _'vulpix, vul' . _Meighson smiled and rubbed the Vulpix's stomach, he had found the pokemon he was going to start his new life with.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

"Cael, quick attack!"

"Bre!"

The moonlight pokemon began to charge at his opponent leaving a blue-white trail in his path, once close enough he lunged hitting the pokemon with enough force to knock it back a few feet. A spherical object came next hitting the k-oed pokemon on its stomach then opening with a bright light and swallowing the pokemon whole. Madellyn stepped forward and picked up the pokeball holding it up at eye level then squatted down to scratch Cael behind his ears.

"Good job Cael, we just caught a Sentret"

She held the pokeball down so it was level with the umbreon, he sniffed it questionably and mewed approvingly. Madellyn sat on the ground and reached into the bag she carried on her back, she took out a few berries and put them on a napkin in front of Cael smiling softly as she watched the pokemon devour the treat then lay at her feet. Out of the bag she also retrieved a map, she had gotten the map back at the pokeshelter for a few dollars and it proved to be very useful. The map had a chip in it that corresponded with a chip in the nearest pokecenter's sign, the map then gave a reading of how many miles the pokecenter was from where they were.

Madellyn sighed, the nearest pokecenter wasn't too far away.

Cael turned his head to look up at the female, it had only been a few days since he had left the pokeshelter with this human and he could tell that she was a very formidable partner. He couldn't say he had learned much about her but he could tell from the way she had tracked the sentret for the last day and a half that she was strong-willed and stubborn, a dangerous combination. He shook his head, laid it on his outstretched forelegs, and flattened his ears against his head. It had also been a few days since he had last seen Alek, since he had left the pokeshelter Cael had decided to focus his mind on getting stronger and looking to the future, however every now and then his mind wandered to the two violet shining orbs of the vulpix. Standing again Cael stretched then trotted over to the bag Madellyn had discarded beside her and reached into it pulling out his pokeball, back at the shelter his pokeball had been stored next the Alek's. Although they never spent a lot of time within the pokeballs his still smelled faintly of the vulpix, he set it on the ground and pushed the button on the front with his nose letting the white light engulf him.

---------------------------------------------------------------

Sun peeked through the trees falling on Meighson's sleeping form, the teen groaned then sat up rubbing the sleep from his eyes. It had been three days since he had gotten his first pokemon and it hadn't been what he had been hoping. The vulpix was a great partner from what he could tell from their short friendship, but since leaving the shelter they had only battled two pokemon both being caterpie and the vulpix was reluctant to battle even those. Yawning Meighson stood and stretched being careful to step over Alek's sleeping body as he headed toward the river. That had been his tactic, he would follow the river to the next town training along the way and once he got there he'd battle the gym leader for his first badge. At the rate he was going he'd be lucky to even make it to the next town alive now that he knew that the vulpix wouldn't fight. Meighson leaned down by the river and cupped his hands in the water, he brought his hands to his lips and let the cool liquid cascade down his throat. He then set about brushing his shoulder length auburn hair back into place with his fingers and washing his face.

Alek cracked open a violet eye and quickly shut it back when the light pooled in. Morning had come all too soon for him waking him from his sleep and robbing him of his happiness. It was bittersweet happiness but happiness all the same, in his dreams he could be anywhere he wanted to be but when he awoke it only reminded him of how much he missed the umbreon. Growling Alek made a second attempt at awakening and this time he successfully cracked both eyes and took in his surroundings. His human was no longer beside him but he had left his clothing suggesting he hadn't gotten too far. Alek stretched and rolled over onto his stomach, looking to the left of him he saw nothing but dirt. Waking up not next to his best friend would take a while to get used to him but he'd adjust, he hoped. The vulpix stood and trotted through the brush to the river he had seen last night, he was partially shocked to see his human there and took a seat beside him to drink from the river.

The fox-like pokemon jumped slightly when he felt a damp hand on his head but then settled into the gentle touch of the human. He mewed quietly and rolled over onto his back allowing the intruding hand to explore his underside. Meighson sighed and continued to pet his partner's belly.

"I don't know if you can understand me, but I just wanted you to know that I really like you Alek"

Meighson felt stupid, no, beyond stupid talking to a pokemon as if it were another human but he kept going.

"And I was kinda hoping to maybe compete in the pokemon league, maybe, and I was hoping we could be friends and stuff"

Alek licked Meighson's hand making the teen smile, since being adopted out to the human he hadn't really given him a chance and he didn't seem like he was a bad kid. And maybe, just maybe, on their journey to the pokemon league he might see Cael. Alek mewed happily and nuzzled the boys side making a purring like noise what Meighson could only guess meant yes. The teen then stood and dusted himself off then headed back toward camp motioning for Alek to follow, the vulpix happily bound after him and sat at his feet. Meighson reached down and scratched behind the vulpix's ears before getting to the task of getting dressed.

---------------------------------------------------------------

After traveling for a few hours Madellyn came upon her destination, a secluded pokecenter. She thought it a bit odd that it would be way out in the middle of a forest but the more she thought about it the more it made sense. She walked into the small building and up to the counter, behind the counter was a young man who looked to be about her age maybe a bit older. His hair was a deep brown and tied back into a ponytail which complemented his also deep brown eyes, he smiled at Madellyn causing her to blush uncontrollably.

"Hi, welcome to the pokemon center, my name is Tobias and I will be servicing you today, how may I help you?" his voice was soft and gentle.

"Y-yeah, I'd like to get my pokemon healed?" Madellyn set Cael's pokeball on the counter along with the pokeball of the Sentret she had just caught.

Tobias took the pokeballs and set them in a tray with rounded indents to keep them secure, behind the counter a there was a machine. The tray along with the pokeballs were placed into the machine and Tobias went back to the counter.

"It'll be a few moments while the machine heals them but trust me, its worth the wait"

"Yeah, uh thanks." Madellyn smiled and leaned against the counter and looked up at the ceiling twiddling her thumbs.

"I hope you don't think it terribly nosy of me but I noticed that the pokeball that you got is one that new trainers from Basenji Town get"

"Yeah, I just got him a few days ago, I'm new to the whole training thing"

"Where are you heading to if you don't mind me asking"

"I heard that if you followed this road that it'd lead to Elo city, there's no gym there but there's a pokemon trainer school there that'll train you to become a pokemon gym leader. I'm not much of a trainer now but if they accept me then I'm sure I'll make a great gym leader."

The machine beeped causing Madellyn to flinch from the sudden noise, Tobias went back to the machine and lifted the tray up from the mouth of it. He left the tray by the machine but took out the pokeballs and handed them to Madellyn who thanked him sincerely and turned to leave.

"Wait!"

Madellyn stopped and looked at Tobias who's face was flushed from the sudden outburst.

"Let me go with you!"

---------------------------------------------------------------


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer- I don't own pokemons

It was hot, too hot, for April anyway.

Meighson trudged along side the river cursing the lack of trees in the particular area he happened to be traveling in. The chirps of pidgey and the buzz of ledyba were weighing heavily on his nerves and the fact that he hadn't eaten since yesterday didn't make his mood any better. Following the river had proved to be quite a challenging feat, unlike most rivers this one seemed to defy gravity by flowing up a rather steep hill, to top it all off 20 minutes back at the foot of the hill Alek refused to continue to walk. The pokeball didn't add much weight but he still thought that the pokemon should carry his own weight. Three yards up the hill there was a flat area of land on which a dense forest had grown, the forest seemed to grown around the hill so travel to the other side would be less strenuous now. Closer to the river there was a small grove of berry trees, Meighson sat in the middle of the trees and sat his bag beside him. He detached the pokeball at his side and pressed the button on its front to enlarge it then again to release the pokemon.

"_Vul!"_

The fox-like fire pokemon sat at his feet and looked up at him with forget-me-not eyes.

"Hey buddy" Meighson patted the vulpix pokemon earning himself a low purr-like response and a small lick on the palm of his hand. He wiped the drool on the leg of his jeans and smiled at the small creature, he wasn't like any vulpix he had ever seen but he had to admit that the little guy was pretty cute.

Meighson rummaged through the bag on his back it had been three days since he set out on his quest yet he was already running low on provisions. Money wasn't an issue, his father had been a pokemon scientist and he had gotten half of his vast fortune when he had died in the explosion of the power plant, however finding a pokemart in the forest would prove to be difficult. In the half empty bag he was able to find a small dish and a half bag of special blend pokechow, he poured the food into the bowl and set the bowl on the ground in front of the vulpix.

Alek mewed and stuck his nose into the bowl, the food was bland and waxy but he ignored the taste and focused on filling his belly. While he ate Meighson dragged himself to the river and filled his water bottle, he stared at his reflection in the water and thought about his sister. They both had the same shoulder length auburn hair and deep sea-green eyes and seeing himself made him wonder how she was.

The vulpix jerked his head up and looked up, he moved his ears independently trying to locate the source of the plea he had heard. He followed the plea out of the small grove and into the bare forest, the forest was still but the scent of blood was heavy, against his better judgement Alek continued on into the forest. The vulpix hadn't gone three yards before he found what he had been looking for, it was a noctowl, a female from what he could tell. She fluttered helplessly on the ground and made attempts at flying away but no matter how hard she tried she couldn't move. Alek moved closer to her and noticed she was bound by a thorny vine, the more she struggled the more the vines dug into her leg which explained the blood smell.

"Shush, you have to be quiet and stop moving if you want me to help you" Alek was pretty sure that this would send the Noctowl into an even more panicked frenzy but to his surprise the owl stopped moving. With the utmost control the vulpix sent out a stream of fire and easily burned through the vine while only singeing a couple feathers. The pokemon flapped her wings forcefully and flew out of sight without so much as a thank you. The fire fox would've been insulted by her wordless departure if his nose hadn't picked up a second scent. This scent was of one he knew but it seemed to farfetched, however did smell an awful lot like...

Meighson snapped out of his trance long enough to notice that Alek was missing and to see a sandy colored tail dip into the forest. The teen scrambled to his feet and took off after the pokemon, he wasn't sure of why his pokemon ran off but he would find out soon. He followed his pokemon about ten feet into the forest when he saw the pokemon free the Noctowl from the vine., Meighson smiled and stepped toward the vulpix. Alek opened his mouth to howl when Meighson's foot came into contact with his tail but instead of a howl he shot out a bright orange flame which startled the trainer causing him to fall back onto his backside. Something in the forest stirred obviously disturbed by the sudden burst of fire. Alek backed up, what ever it was in the forest he wanted to be as far away from it as possible.

---------------------------------------------------------------

Madellyn stopped beneath a large oak tree, the heat was unbearable and it didn't help that she could hear a river but it seemed to elude her time and time again. It was around two or three o' clock in the afternoon and the sun hung heavily in the sky, Tobias stopped beside the teen and set his bag on the ground. From his waist he produced three pokeballs from which he released a Chansey, a Rattata and a Pichu, following suit Madellyn released Cael and her newly caught Sentret from their pokeballs as well. Madellyn bent down and stroked the soft fur on Cael's head.

"You keep an eye on Pichu and Sentret alright?" Cael nodded and nuzzled his trainer's hand reassuringly. Madellyn smiled and returned to help Tobias set up lunch, no sooner had she said keep an eye on them that Cael realized that the two were missing. Cael rolled his eyes, babysitting wasn't his favorite thing to do but he had made a promise to Madellyn. The umbreon put his nose to the ground and sniffed, the scent of the two young pokemon was strong and headed into the forest. He hadn't sensed any danger coming from the dense forest so he took his time as he leisurely strolled into the forest in search of Pichu and Sentret. A loud howl cut through the peaceful silence of the forest and the sound caused Cael's heart to race and made his paws sweat.

Apparently Madellyn and Tobias heard it as well and they began to frantically call for the pokemon, Pichu and sentret crawled out of their hiding place which had been nowhere near the forest and raced over to the pokechow that hade been put out for the two. A shiver went up the umbreon's back, something wasn't right about the situation but he shook it off and went back to the others. A couple minutes passed before another sound came from the forest, however this one wasn't of a pokemon but of a human running. The pounding of the shoes on the hard packed earth became louder and louder until a figure was produced, it was a male who looked and smelled a lot like Madellyn. The scent of blood was strong on him and in his arms he held a small bloody sandy colored pokemon. The human tripped and slid into view clutching the pokemon to avoid any further damage to it's fragile body.

"Meighson!" Madellyn said half relieved half surprised.

"Madellyn!, you gotta help him, I don't know what to do" Meighson carefully laid Alek on the ground, at this point the pokemon was gasping for air and each breath he took came in with a ragged gushing sound. On his side he had a deep gash from which blood flowed freely from, Cael wiggled through the tightknit group of humans and began helplessly licking at the dying pokemon. Tears threatened to spill from his ruby eyes, and his heart ached at the notion that each breath may be his last.

"Chansey!" Tobias called to his Chansey who bounded over as chipper as though a pokemon was not dying at her feet.

"Chansey, use healing wish on this pokemon" Tobias pointed to Alek lying nearly motionless save for the weak rise and fall of his chest.

Chansey position herself over the pokemon's body a strong beam of bright white light emanated from the egg on its belly and engulfed the vulpix. Slowly but surely the pokemon's breathing returned to normal and the wound on his side began to fade, however celebration was cut short as the same howl heard a few moments earlier was heard again. Out of the forest leaped a houndoom, the nightmare pokemon's face had been half charred and its left leg was twisted and contorted because of its broken status. The Houndoom seemed to ignore the pain and acted on pure rage and hatred for both Meighson and Alek. In its blind fury its senses had been heightened to near god-like and it had no problem hunting down the pokemon and it's trainer. It quickly spotted the helpless pokemon laying in a pool of his own blood at the Chansey's feet and acted upon it. The inside of the Houndoom's mouth began to glow bright blue and it's horns took on the same color as well.

"Get back! Its using reversal!" Tobias pulled the two younger teens back just as the beam shot out of its mouth. Just before the beam struck the injured pokemon a black figure jumped in its path, purple rings soon accompanied the bright light but it did little to prevent the attack and soon the Chansey, Umbreon, and Vulpix were consumed by the blue light.

A/N: wow, its been a while, i've been busy though but w/ this 3-day weekend i decided to bless my reader, however how little amount it may be, with a new chapter. hope you enjoyed


End file.
